What If..

      What if today was your last day on earth?  Would you stop to admire the sunrise or would you rush out the door?  Would you hang on to your child's every word or would you half heartedly listen to them?  Would you eat dessert with your girlfriends or would you eat a salad?  Would you take advantage of your husbands caress or would you give him the cold shoulder?  What if..

Spicy Oatmeal Drops

      This is another one of my grandma's recipes.  The name doesn't really sound appealing but they are tasty.  If you don't like raisins, just replace them with chocolate chips.

Spicy Oatmeal Drops:

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
1/2 c lard
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 c milk
2 t vanilla
1 c walnuts (optional)
1 c raisins
1 c oats

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a seperate bowl, cream lard & sugar.  Add egg, milk & vanilla.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Add nuts, raisins & oats.  Drop by tablespoon onto a greased baking pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.

Kale & Bacon

     I am a weirdo!  I LOVE KALE!!!  I think that it tastes super yummy and it is good for you.  Here is a recipe  to use up that kale that is hanging out in your refrigerator.  Just try it.  It's yummy.

Kale & Bacon:

1 large bunch of kale (washed & torn)
1 pkg turkey bacon. (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 T minced garlic
1/4 t pepper
8 red potatoes (washed & quartered)
1 T olive oil

In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp.  Remove from the pan & place on a plate  lined with paper towels.  Wipe out the skillet  and pour in the olive oil.  Fry the potatoes until done.  Add the bacon back to the skillet along with the garlic, pepper and kale.  Cook until the kale is withered and dark green.  Serve warm.

Sunday Morning Parfait

     Some mornings I need a quick breakfast to feed my family.  Here is one that satisfies and looks pretty.

Sunday Morning Parfaits:

1 large container of your favorite plain yogurt (store bought or homemade)
3 c granola (store bought or homemade)
3 c blueberries
3 c raspberries
honey
cinnamon

Line up three or four glass cups on the counter.  Place a dollop of yogurt in each cup.  Top with  a bit of granola and drizzle with some honey.  Place a layer of blueberries & raspberries on top of the granola and sprinkle with a little bit of cinnamon.  Repeat with a layer of yogurt, granola, fruit, etc..  Breakfast is served.

Grandma'a Chocolate Chip Cake

     Sometimes you just need to eat something sweet.  Here is a recipe that I think you will enjoy.  It came from my grandma.  She loved nuts in all of her baked goods.  If you don't like them or if they don't appeal to you, feel free to leave them out.

Chocolate Chip Cake:

1 1/2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c lard
1/2 c milk
1/2 c pecans (optional)
3/4 c chocolate chips

Cream together lard, sugar and eggs.  Add the dry ingredients with the milk.  Stir in the pecans & chocolate chips and mix well.  Pour into a greased glass pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Sugar Scrub

     The dry air can really get to my skin.  Sometimes I just need something to exfoliate and hydrate my skin all at the same time.  A sugar scrub is simple to make and it works really well to hydrate my dry skin.  If you have essential oils you can play around with  scents.

Sugar Scrub:

1/2 c olive oil
1 c sugar
2 t lemon zest
10-15 drops lavender oil
1/2 t vanilla

In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients really well.  Pour into glass jars.  To use:  Take a generous amount of the mixture and gently rub on skin.  Rinse thoroughly.

Flavored Water

     Sometimes I get tired of drinking plain old water.  I know that it is good for you so I jazz it up with flavor.  My favorite flavored water at the moment is to take an orange, slice it up and put it in my water along with a handful of blueberries,  I also enjoy sliced strawberries and lime slices together,  lemon slices with peppermint leaves and apple slices with a cinnamon stick.  Pinterest and Google are great resources for  flavored water ideas.  You should give it a try.  It may change your life.